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The name Llechryd derives from the Welsh for "Slate Ford" ("Llech + Rhyd"), as slate was once extracted from nearby quarries and transported along a canal. The canal was not a canal in the conventional sense but purely a channel to transport fresh water to a tinworks which stood near the Castell Malgwyn stable block on the other side of the river Teifi.

The village is approximately two miles long, and includes Llechryd Cricket & Tennis Club, a car dealership, a water treatment facility, a village shop, the local pubs the Carpenter's Arms (inn) and the Seven Stars (for some time a guest house but reopened as an inn), Llechryd primary school and St Tydfil's church. The church was built in 1854 to replace the older Church of the Holy Cross near the bridge which had to be abandoned due to persistent flooding. Another notable church nearby is Manordeifi Old Church, near the far end of the "canal" road. It is preserved as it was in the early 19th century.

The river Teifi is tidal and was navigable by lighters as far as Llechryd until the 1840s, when careless working of the slate quarries resulted in severe choking of the Cilgerran Gorge, causing the flooding for which the area is now known and moving the navigable (in all but the smallest boats/canoes) tidal limit downstream of Cilgerran Castle.

Most of the village has been built along the A484 going down into the valley, although some estates branch off the road.

A battle was fought in or near the town in 1087 between Rhys ab Twdwr and the sons of Bleddin ab Cynfyn. In 1844, during the Rebecca Riots, the weir across the river which had prevented salmon from going upstream was demolished by rioters. [1]

The River Teifi is crossed at Llechryd by a grade II* listed bridge built in the 17th century which was damaged in 2005 by a large flood. The bridge, part of an ancient drovers' road, can be wholly submerged by the river at times of high flood, and inhabitants wishing to cross the river have to go via Cardigan and Cilgerran.